All is Fair in Love and War
by Honeeym
Summary: After Klaus retrieves the bodies of his family from Stefan, the Originals pay a visit to Mystic Falls with the intentions to retaliate. What happens when Elijah tries to do Damon a favor and offers him a life-changing choice? See warnings inside.
1. Part One

_Disclamer : I don't own Vampire Diaries, but I love to play around with D. Salvatore._

_Warning (mostly for Part 2): character deaths, mild violence._

_Pairings : Salvatore brotherly love, slight Stelena/Delena. Hints of Steroline/Daroline friendship._

* * *

><p><em>All is fair in love and war (<em>_Part 1/2)._

So, yes Stefan had stolen a bunch of dead Originals. And yes, Klaus had retrieved a bunch of now very alive Originals. Needless to say, the Hybrid had sworn he would get revenge. And nothing, absolutely _nothing_ was worse than a vengeful Klaus. When Stefan showed up at the boarding house with his humanity back on and blood all over his shirt, Damon knew it was time to put a plan together.

It was a damn near perfect plan. Since Klaus could not be killed and they were out of daggers, it would be Bonnie's role to trap the Originals in the tomb underneath the church. That place was convenient enough when it came to having potential threats under control. It involved minimal violence – all they had to do was lure them in the tomb and get out before Bonnie put a permanent seal on the tomb. Simple. Damon never thought things would lead to _this._

_Where did it all go wrong?_

One minute, they were killing off Klaus' minions and the Originals were not completely beating the crap out of them, and the next, it was chaos. Damon looked around and tears unexpectedly filled his eyes when he glanced around at the bodies of Alaric and Jeremy. Their limbs bent at an unnatural angle, they were lying on the ground, wide-eyed. Although the two humans would come back to life thanks to the spell Bonnie had put on them, the sight stirred a violent ache inside of him.

Damon grimaced at the sight of Tyler Lockwood's actually lifeless body – he didn't have a choice. The young hybrid's allegiance to Klaus was endangering all of them; he had to be neutralized.

Elena was still nowhere to be found – Damon noticed that Rebekah was missing as well – and Klaus had a strong hold on Stefan. The green-eyed vampire had fallen on his knees and the hybrid's hands were ready to snap his neck, simply for good measure. From where he was, Damon could see a wooden stake in Klaus' pocket.

His eyes travelled further to the right, where Caroline was still trying to fight Elijah. The Original seemed to wait for her to exhaust herself, and it soon happened. Her porcelain skin was strained with blood and tears, and her sobs echoed loudly in the quarry when her eyes fell on Tyler.

_Where did it all go wrong?_

"I reckon it's time for a brief pause," Klaus said and everybody went still.

Bonnie joined Damon. She was having a massive nose bleed from using so much power to fight the attacks and she was shaking uncontrollably. She grabbed his hand. Damon couldn't remember the last time he had seen her so frightened. Everything was silent. Their eyes met and she shook her head as if advising against any attack.

"Where is Elena?" Damon asked, his voice vibrant with anger.

"Oh, yes," Klaus said. "I almost forgot!"

Damon felt his rage build. He thought he was the king of nonchalance but Klaus was something else entirely – and Damon now understood why everyone around him (his brother, Elena, Bonnie) was continually annoyed with him. Nonchalance was damn near infuriating.

"Rebekah," Klaus sing-sang. "Time to bring the guest of honour."

Bonnie gasped when Rebekah emerged from behind a tree, dragging Elena behind her. The doppelganger was bleeding out – from the many scars marking her death-pale skin, Damon could guess the abuse she had gone through. It took all of his willpower not to pounce on Rebekah and rip her head off. Bonnie squeezed his hand as a reminder that his life, too, mattered.

"We just had a girls' night out, is all," Rebekah shrugged with a cruel smile.

"What did you do to her?" Bonnie screamed.

"She killed me. Tit for tat."

Elena's eyes were frantically searching for familiar faces. She made eye contact with Damon and sent a small smile his way – she was relieved to see that he had made it alive, so far. Bonnie was there, and Caroline, too. Her eyes widened when she registered that Tyler had had his heart ripped out of his chest, and even more when she saw Stefan near Klaus.

Damon knew what was coming next. She'd see Jeremy and think he was dead. She'd scream her brother's name, collapse on her knees and cry. He was ready for that, so when she did, his jaw simply clenched.

"What a mess," the hybrid said as a response to Elena's cries of despair. "Pity we had to come to this."

"This is your fault," Damon suddenly yelled at Elijah. "If you had been a man of honour, none of this would have happened."

Klaus rolled his eyes. Even though he felt a pang of satisfaction at seeing the eldest Salvatore in such a state of distress, the reminder of his brother's betrayal deeply unnerved him.

Elijah's quiet voice rose.

"Brother," he said. "He is right. I'd given them my word, and I failed them."

"How is that my problem?" Klaus drawled.

"Considering that these two," he said, nodding towards Stefan and Elena, "have done something to personally offend you and Rebekah, please do _him_ a favour on my behalf."

"You and your morals," Rebekah said lovingly. "You're a good man, Elijah."

Klaus's gaze travelled from his sister's affectionate smile to his brother's more discreet one. The three of them, together again, after so many years; this is all he ever wanted. He was a hybrid, Mikael was gone and his family was by his side again. He sighed.

"Oh, Elijah," Klaus smiled reproachfully, shaking his head. "Being around you is making me feel magnanimous."

Elijah had always acted like a sedative to Klaus' short temper. His outstanding moral sense and his patience made him the ideal advisor and Klaus wanted nothing more than allow him back into that position. He might as well start now.

"Very well," Elijah said, his smile growing slightly. "I understand that all the others must die, but I am begging you, let Damon have his brother. You, of all people, understand the importance of family, Niklaus."

"Rebekah, darling, what says you?" asked Klaus.

The blonde scoffed.

"Let him have his brother," she said.

Klaus noticed that his sister's hold on Elena tightened a bit and he couldn't help but smile at that. Rebekah could be so capricious sometimes – she could use a lesson. Not to mention that Klaus still hadn't decided what her punishment for siding with the enemy should be.

"I have a better idea. One," Klaus said, raising his index in the air. "I will spare one of them. Damon, I will allow you to choose."

Damon's eyes widened. How was he _supposed_ to choose? Bonnie's hand squeezed his. This time, he squeezed back.

"I will spare the bubbly blonde," Klaus informed. "Her life matters little to me, and to you as well. Besides, my very first hybrid was very infatuated with her and it's the least I can do to honour his memory."

Damon's eyes closed for a short second. He'd never admit it to anybody, but Klaus was wrong – Caroline's life mattered to him. Somehow, she was _his. _The first one he turned and actually cared about. His blood was running through her veins and it meant something to him.

Klaus nodded to Elijah, who let go of Caroline. She instinctively ran to Damon, who put a protective arm around her without letting go of Bonnie's hand. _At least, the two of them would stay alive and have each other to lean on. _

Bonnie's worried gaze shifted to a glare when Klaus smirked at her.

"As for you, witch," he started. "It seems that you cannot be killed. Since I am the only immortal being walking this planet, I suppose the spell will work for a short time only, but I have no patience. You will walk away from this because I allow it, so I strongly recommend that you don't stand in my way, _ever_ _again_."

Damon froze. Bonnie wrapped her arms around him and he accepted her embrace; otherwise, he felt like his legs were going to fail him. That left only Stefan and Elena. His brother and the girl he loved.

He looked at Stefan, who was still on his knees and the green eyes immediately travelled to Elena. The message was loud and clear: save her. The doppelganger, exhausted from a night of horror and staring at her brother's supposedly lifeless body, was wide-eyed.

"No," he breathed.

"No?" Klaus echoed, amused. "Shall I kill them both, then?"

"Niklaus," Elijah said sternly.

"Just kidding, Eli," Klaus shrugged. "You don't have to make the decision right this second, mate," Klaus said to Damon. "I'll give you until midnight, tomorrow."

"Nik," Rebekah whimpered. "I am not letting go of _her. _Have you learnt nothing? They'll trick you, they'll find something!"

Klaus tore his eyes away from Damon and glared at Rebekah.

"Of course, since you won't be helping them this time, we have nothing to worry about, have we?"

Rebekah lowered her gaze. With a pout, she pushed Elena away so violently that the human tripped.

"If you run, I'll find you wherever you are and I will rip you apart limb by limb," she threatened.

"Now, now, Bekah," Klaus reprimanded. "Don't be so dramatic."

He sped towards Damon, Bonnie and Caroline. Resorting to his massive compulsion skills, he spoke slowly.

"Do not run. Do not try to find a way around this, because if you do, I will make you all suffer so much that you'll wish you were never born. Damon, make a decision, but don't reveal it before we meet tomorrow. Have I made myself clear?"

"Very clear," Damon said blankly; the girls imitated him.

Klaus started to walk away, and just as Bonnie let out a relieved sigh, he froze.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said. "You didn't actually expect me to believe that you'd allow humans to come fight us without some kind of magical protection, now, did you?"

In a blur, he ripped the hearts out of Alaric and Jeremy's chests. Elena and Stefan screamed in horror. Bonnie started to cry. Caroline's sobs amplified. Damon fell to his knees.

"I will see all of you here tomorrow at midnight. Enjoy your last twenty-four hours, Scooby Gang."


	2. Part Two

_Of love and war (2/2)_

Damon's mind incessantly brought him back to Atlas; how he bore the weight of the world on his shoulders. That's what he felt like.

The head versus the heart, the everlasting philosophical debate? Absolutely irrelevant. Not even close. When he thought he had gone through every possible argument, the voice of Elena and Stefan downstairs sent his resolution tumbling down.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Stefan said, standing on the doorstep of Damon's bedroom.

Their eyes met briefly, and Damon motioned for him to come in. He was surprised his brother had managed to hold back for an entire hour. There was a torrent of words, just there, begging to be released in a pleading voice – Damon was sure of it. So it really wasn't a surprise when Stefan began to make quite a strong case for Elena.

She was only eighteen, and her whole life was ahead of her. She, contrary to the most of them, was blessed with the gift of mortality, and her future was full of babies and travels and wrinkles. It would be a folly to take it away from her.

"Damon?" Stefan said for the second time. "Damon, are you listening to me?"

"No," his brother confessed.

"I know this seems like a tricky predicament, but I've lived 162 years. I've had enough of this and I am the reason Klaus is so vengeful. It is only fair that this should end with me."

Silence.

"Damon, you _love_ her."

He didn't even bother to deny it. It was no longer a secret that he had strong feelings for Elena.

"She'll have you when I'm gone," Stefan pursued. "She and I were never going to be an 'us' again, so you need to be there for her."

In his brother's voice, Damon heard resignation. Stefan wasn't going to fight, and it had nothing to do with Klaus' compulsion. He might as well already be dead, for all he seemed to care. All the while, Damon remained silent, staring stupidly at the wall behind Stefan.

Elena joined the brothers and leaned into the doorway.

"I would have saved Jeremy," she said truthfully, causing Damon and Stefan to turn around. "When given the choice in a situation like this, what you do is that you save your brother."

Damon's jaw dropped, and Stefan gasped, visibly horrified. The determinate look on her face was enough to send cold shivers down both of their spines. Was she really throwing it all away? That was equivalent to suicide, at the hands of Klaus, nonetheless. Damon looked at his brother and sensed that Stefan was just about to lose it.

"Elena," the green-eyed vampire whispered. "You can't – you can't possibly imply…"

"My family is gone, Stefan," she choked. "What would I live for if you die?"

_Oh, I don't know. It's not like you have friends to care about, right? It's not like John, in all of his heroic jackass-ness, who gave up his life just so you could grow old, _Damon thought but said nothing.

"What would _I_ live for if you die?" Stefan said.

_Yeah, it's not like you have a brother or anything. It's not like Blondie desperately needs your stupid guidance for her buddy diet._

Damon internally rolled his eyes at these two and their everlasting drama. Even when it was his sole responsibility to make the decision, they couldn't help themselves, they had to meddle and be so damn heroic.

"Shut up," Damon snapped. "Both of you."

Stefan and Elena turned to him, only to find a brooding forehead, unnatural to Damon.

"You do know that it's your last night together, yes?"

They exhaled sadly.

"You," he said, pointing to Stefan. "You take her out of here and do whatever you people in love like to do one last time, because this ends tomorrow, either way. So just go."

"But – "

"_Now_."

"Think about what I said," Stefan said, leading Elena outside.

The youngest Salvatore suddenly seemed to realize that the clock was ticking down. It was a strange feeling for an immortal, Damon thought.

He paused.

Nothing his brother said made any sense to him. Saving Elena would only mean killing Stefan and never in 146 years had he wished his brother dead. Hell, yes, he had wanted to hurt him (and been successful in doing so), but a world without Stefan's exasperating chivalry was purely an aberration. Not only was he Damon's last relative "alive", so to speak, but he was his anchor. His old childhood companion, the one he used to confide in at any time of the day or night. Stefan was his compass, although they were at odds most of the time.

Elena made him a better person, a little more every day. He had tried to fight, because really, what did it say about him that he kept falling in love with the ones his brother had first? But his love for her had grown inside of him like a poisonous flower, washing away the doubts and everything else. Although he'd probably never have her, Elena was the closest thing Damon would get to true love, he was sure of it. He'd give his life for her.

If he decided to save Stefan, then she would die; what would have been the point of him loving her, her loving Stefan? He sure didn't see it. She had to live. If there was one thing that Stefan trusted him with, it was to keep Elena safe and sound.

It was then that Damon knew what he had to do. Yes, his decision was made. It was all wrong, but couldn't be more right.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Fifteen minutes until Klaus' ultimatum expired. The clock was ticking loudly in Damon's head as he looked around and forced himself to appreciate their last moment together. Despite the overwhelming sadness in the air, it seemed like restrain was in order at the boarding house.

Elena was standing in a corner with Bonnie, both teenagers doing their best to hold back the tears. Damon cursed his powers and wished he could shut his ears and give them some privacy for what could be their last conversation. These two grew up together; they were always a tangible reality in each other's life and he could almost see the blurs of fear and pain radiating off their frail bodies. They were still so young.

His eyes moved to the other corner of the room, where Stefan was smiling sadly at Caroline. She, contrary to everyone else, couldn't care less about being measured. Damon marvelled at her ability to cry without interruption – to be quite honest, she was giving him a headache, but he felt for her. After tonight, she would never be bright and bubbly anymore. Her hair would grow dull and her smile would falter; her forever young skin would look wrinkled. She'd probably spirit her mother out of town and start anew somewhere far, far away from Mystic Falls. Yes, he hoped she would.

As for Bonnie, whatever the outcome of tonight, Damon knew that he wouldn't be seeing her ever again. If he walked away alive from this confrontation with Klaus, he would leave town, and not come back in her lifetime – possibly never come back at all. Although she knew he had no choice but play along Klaus' most twisted game to date, she would not be able to look him in the eye, knowing that he was the reason why someone so close to her heart had died.

It suddenly occurred to Damon that, once upon a time, Bonnie had made it clear that she'd end him if he spilled any more blood. He wanted to beg her to keep her promise and put him out of his misery if Klaus didn't rip his heart out.

"I want you and Caroline to stay here," Damon said instead, staring intently at Bonnie.

She simply shook her head. He sighed. He had been expecting such a reaction from her.

"I don't trust Klaus," he said. "He might have said _he_ would spare you, not a word was said about the rest of the ancient psychos. So, you stay here. Spell the house, witchy migraine anyone who comes around, snap their necks, do whatever you want, but _stay inside_ and protect each other."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him when his voice broke a little. She understood where this was coming from. He genuinely wanted them to be safe, but mostly, he didn't want them to watch one of their friends die. She walked up to him with a smile.

"Please?" he tried again, knowing he'd already lost.

The dark-skinned witched shook her head again, and the sympathy glistening in her eyes enveloped his bleeding heart with something close to warmth.

Her hand reached out to his and squeezed briefly. As he had on what could rightfully be called the battlefield, he squeezed back. When she held on longer than necessary and he began to feel tingles, he frowned; she was chanting. She released his hand after a while; he shivered.

"It'll help a little," she explained.

"Ever so cryptic, witchy," he said mockingly.

She sent a sad smile his way, and he turned to Caroline.

"Blondie, I suppose I can't talk you out of coming?"

Caroline simply rolled her eyes at him. She never listened.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Damon convinced Bonnie and Caroline to stand back, a few feet behind, as were the rest of the Original siblings. Standing in the middle of Stefan and Elena, Damon made his way towards Klaus, and stopped only when the two were standing inches apart. Their eyes met, watery against icy, and the Hybrid smirked.

"Right on time," he noted with a smile. "Shall we?"

Damon didn't react. He couldn't believe that Klaus was actually _enjoying_ this. Even if his own darkest period, Damon had never taken pleasure in torturing people like this. Rebekah seemed to be watching a good movie on TV, and Damon wondered if she had ever really loved Stefan at all.

"So, who will it be, Damon?" Klaus asked, pacing around the three of them like the predator he truly was. "The brother? The almost lover? Which one will die for the sake of the other?"

Damon's jaw clenched. He had done his best to avoid facing the cold, harsh truth, but Klaus was never known to be gentle with his words and images of dead Stefan and Elena crossed his mind. He felt unbalanced all of a sudden, but he cleared his throat. More than ever, he was certain about his decision.

"Neither," he announced firmly.

He almost smirked at Rebekah's jaw dropping. Klaus stopped pacing and Elijah failed to suppress a sigh of exasperation. The other Originals watched, very curious to see their brother deal with the young vampire's unexpected and oh-so-arrogant resistance.

"What did you say to me?" he snarled at Damon.

Everyone was silent. Damon could hear Bonnie's heart threatening to beat out of her chest, alongside Elena's.

"Two people were always going to walk away from this, it's simple maths," Damon clarified.

"That's assuming I was going to spare your life, mate."

"You know you were," Damon countered. "Because your brother asked you to."

Klaus stood pensive for a while and then gave an appreciative look to Damon.

"Fair enough," he conceded. "However, did you happen to forget the part where you're not supposed to find a way around this?

"You compelled me to make a decision, and so I did. I choose that these two be Stefan and Elena. I die for their sake."

"And they say Stefan is the hero," Klaus mocked, he snapped his fingers.

There was suddenly a shift in the air. Before anyone had time to register, Kol and Finn, if Damon wasn't mistaken, were standing behind Stefan and Elena. Klaus rolled his eyes and went to stand in the middle of them. He studied Stefan carefully, and did the same for Elena, then he faced Damon again.

"You _know_ I have a bad temper," he sighed dramatically, tsk-ing under his breath. "And now I find myself terribly upset with all of you. Something…regrettable might happen if you don't give me a name _right now_, my friend."

Damon swayed a little. He honestly didn't think he would actually have to. Klaus' eyes were burning a hole in his chest and terrible visions of the Hybrid killing both Stefan and Elena rushed through his head.

"All I have to do is blink and they're both dead. Tik tok," Klaus sang. "Tik tok, Damon."

The blue-eyed vampire looked at his brother, and then at the girl he loved. It was happening. He had to choose. Every second he spent hesitating was the guarantee that they'd both die and so, before Klaus had a chance to pressure him again, Damon took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking at Stefan, his eyes full of tears that would soon fall.

His brother smiled almost contentedly.

"The brother it is, then," said Klaus, moving in towards Stefan.

"No!" Damon exclaimed. "I save him. He lives."

Stefan's eyes widened and the scream of protest got stuck in his throat. Klaus finally looked satisfied – Damon realized that this was his plan from the start. And suddenly, it all made sense. Klaus wanted revenge. Stefan had taken his family away from him and his family was what he loved the most. And so, he wanted to do the same. An eye for an eye. By giving this choice to Damon, Klaus knew that family would could first, and that, no matter his love for Elena, Damon would save his brother. And so, not only would Stefan lose the love of his life, he would also spend the eternity hating Damon for being the one who took her away from him.

Pure genius, in the most twisted of ways.

"Let them say goodbye," Damon implored.

"Oh, I am not heartless," Klaus protested with feigned outrage. "The lovebirds shall have their farewell kiss."

The Original brothers stepped back into their place and for a second, Damon turned around to make sure that Bonnie and Caroline were still there, still alive. They couldn't even look at him.

Elena stumbled towards Stefan, steady tremor gripping her body from head to toe. The green-eyed Salvatore sheltered her in his muscular arms, as if his hold on her could protect her from what was coming. The disappointment in Stefan's eyes was too much – Damon tore his eyes away from them, feeling like he had no right to be sorry for something he had caused. He cursed his vampire hearing when Elena's quiet whispers came to him.

"I will always love you," she whispered in the hollow of Stefan's neck. "Always."

"Elena – "

"It's the right thing to do. I want to be with my brother, and you should be with yours. Forgive him."

Stefan said nothing. Elena gave him a chaste goodbye kiss, as yet another proof that they were no more _StefanAndElena_. Damon rapidly glanced at Bonnie and Caroline again; the two were holding on to each other, horror all over their faces.

Damon watched in horror as Elena walked up to Klaus, her held head high. _The perfect martyr._ However, the blonde man made no gesture to abruptly end her life. If anything, he seemed bored to the bone. True, the scene lacked a little more dram for his taste, Damon thought. As if on cue, Klaus spoke slowly, almost distractedly.

"Damon," he said. "I think she'd rather your face was the last she saw, don't you?"

Stefan gasped. Damon couldn't process the words himself, and their meaning made itself crystal clear to him only when Elena slowly spun around and strode in his direction. His jaw clenched at the look on her face. She seemed to feel sorry _for him._

His trembling hands made their way up to her shoulders, and rested on her neck. Never breaking eye-contact with him, Elena maintained a smile on her face and in her eyes he could see nothing but love and affection. It was intolerable. This had to end, and it had to end right this second.

The fastest way to do it was to break her neck. With his vampire speed, she wouldn't even have time to register. Her body wouldn't be damaged, she wouldn't suffer. Damon felt nauseous – was he really thinking about the fastest way to kill _Elena? _Could he really to this? _Could_ he?

"Forgive me, Elena."

He brought her forehead to his. The lion and the lamb – what a Romanesque picture they must have made, Damon thought to himself.

"I do. I forgive you," she said, her voice quivering.

"It won't hurt," he promised her as his fingers pressed against her skin; she tensed a bit, but mouthed a _thank you_.

"Oh yes, it _will_, Klaus interfered. "I happen to have a bit of a bad history with Petrova doppelgängers, and for some reason, they have all managed to stay out of my grasp for now. Surely you won't be so unkind as to ruin my fun. Break her spine, to begin with."

When Damon didn't move for about a minute, Klaus huffed, indicating that he was losing patience.

"I'm so sorry, Elena," Damon whispered. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Do what you have to do."

Stefan joined Bonnie and Caroline and the three of them turned away, not wanting to see this. Damon himself closed his eyes, but he did as he was told, with the sole idea in mind that Elena's cry of pain was saving Stefan's life. It was all that mattered from then on, Stefan's life.

He was thoughtful enough to break the bone precisely where it would paralyze her from the waist down. So when he broke both her legs simply to keep Klaus entertained, she didn't feel anything. The Hybrid seems fascinated with this sick show and Damon wanted nothing more but to be done with it.

Elena fell onto the ground. She struggled to caress his face one last time, but he averted her gesture. He made quite a show of it when his right hand tore at her skin, broke her bones, and grabbed her heart. _I always thought she would be the one to break mine_. She gasped in pain, unable to move, unable to breathe. Tears of simple pain formed in her eyes and suddenly, he pulled.

The light left her eyes instantly, as her still warm and pumping heart was torn out of her chest.

Klaus came over, probably just to make sure that she was really dead. When he saw that she was, he sighed contentedly.

"Well, well. _Adieu_, people of Mystic Falls," he said heartily.

In a blur, he and his family were gone. Whether it was for now, or forever, they were gone. Stefan ran to Elena and broke down, crying. Damon hadn't seen his brother cry in decades. He hesitantly put the hand that was immaculate on his shoulder.

Stefan clumsily jerked his body away from his brother and pushed him away. Damon was not strong enough to fight; Hell, he didn't _want _to. He let himself fall back and prepared himself for more blows. They didn't come. Sensing that this could only lead to no good, Caroline had stepped in the middle.

"Enough," she admonished Stefan.

"You're right," he spat. "He deserves to live with this for the rest of eternity."

"Stefan – " she started, but didn't know what to say.

The green-eyed vampire glanced down to the one he didn't consider as his brother anymore. Damon couldn't look back; he stared intently at the ground, drowning in shame and hurt and anger.

"I will never forgive you," Stefan whispered. "Ever."

As for Caroline, she was not sobbing anymore. Her mascara had left black and messy trails down her cheeks and her eyes were swollen. She walked to Damon and helped him stand on his feet. She put an arm around his waist and dragged his arm around her shoulders. Wide-eyed, he followed. They went home in grieving silence, sharing silent tears, and didn't speak a word to each other.

_53 years passed before Caroline could get Stefan to tolerate his brother again. 50 more passed before he talked to Damon. 50 more before he smiled. __But eventually, they become brothers again. Because a love like theirs was the greatest love, of all. _


End file.
